Arrests reflect Thruway's role as drug conduit

Sunday

Twice in two weeks, Thruway traffic stops helped police uncover a significant amount of drugs and arrest Utica residents who were in the vehicles.

Twice in two weeks, Thruway traffic stops helped police uncover a significant amount of drugs and arrest Utica residents who were in the vehicles.

The cases highlight how the toll road serves as a major conduit of illegal drugs between New York City and upstate communities such as Utica.

Interviews with police show authorities have put a greater focus on making drug busts on the Thruway rather than waiting until narcotics hit the streets.

“Usually when we catch them when they're traveling, we get all the drugs,” Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara said Friday. “When it's on the street level - it's lower level drug dealers with a smaller supply.”

Both drug busts this month resulted from stops for vehicle and traffic violations:

-- State police charged Morton Tillson, 29, of Utica on Dec. 14 with felony marijuana possession after pulling his vehicle over for erratic driving in Greenburgh, a Westchester County community just north of New York City. Authorities say they found 61 pounds of pot worth about $119,000.

-- On Thursday, nearly $20,000 worth of heroin was recovered in 1,320 bags from a vehicle stopped for having tinted windows on the Thruway in the Herkimer County town of Danube, state police said. Alejandro S. Medrano of Brooklyn and Jaime Garcia Jr. of Shaw Street in Utica were each charged with felony criminal possession of a controlled substance.

McNamara would not say if either of those two incidents were cases that police had been following.

“To a certain extent, we've always known the Thruway to be a major means of transporting drugs to this area,” McNamara said. “I think that every time we show the drug community that we are being proactive, it makes drug dealers think twice about coming here.”

Agency cooperation is a key factor in making drug arrests, McNamara said.

-- New York State Police, which includes sub units such as Community Narcotics Enforcement Teams and a Special Investigations unit.

Attempts to reach several state police officials about the transport of drugs on the Thruway were not successful Friday.

When an agency receives word that drugs are coming up from New York City, there is usually communication between agencies, Utica police Capt. Mark Williams said.

“A lot of drugs from downstate find their way to Utica through the New York State Thruway,” Williams said.

McNamara would not go into details of how police track suspected drug vehicles, but said investigations are much more sophisticated than pulling over random vehicles.

In any case, police agencies have been trained to avoid profiling of drivers through factors such as race. Highly publicized racial profiling cases in states such as New Jersey have resulted in lawsuits and criticism of police agencies.

Both McNamara and Williams said there doesn't seem to be an increase of drug activity in the area, compared to the late 1980s or early and mid-1990s, when use of crack cocaine surged.

Stopping the flow of drugs on the highway will reduce the problems they cause in local communities, Williams said.

“Once the drugs hit the streets, there is also an issue of drug territory,” he said. “And I'm sure that's a reason that leads to some of our shootings.”